The Book of Revelation is Exactly What We Need

I was blessed to be in the seats at Baptist Church of the Redeemer for the six months or so that Jim Hamilton preached through the book of Revelation. I was new to the church and fairly new in pastoral ministry. I remember thinking: “I can’t believe he’s preaching on this!” Don’t get me wrong, I believed that all of the Bible was true and profitable for the body of Christ. But, admittedly my interaction with friends and other pastors on Revelation had always produced more fear and confusion for me than edification.

But, I was struck by how clear and powerful the sermon series proved to be. Jim did not overwhelm us with theories, positions or charts. He simply explained, with passion and gravity, this very important book of the Bible. I remember coming away from those sermons and being more impressed with the beauty, strength and majesty of Jesus than ever before. The “crucified, risen, ascended, reigning and returning” Lord seemed to peer directly at us from the pages of John’s letter on those Sundays. There was expectation for the future, yes but not the kind that leads to speculation and calculation. It was the kind that made obedience in the present all the more attractive and logical. Jesus was real and was coming again. We were confronted with His power and the futility of resisting it.

I’m so thankful that Crossway has seen the blessing and value that these sermons and Jim’s careful study offer for the wider Church. So, I couldn’t be more excited to now hold Revelation, The Spirit Speaks to the Churches in my hands. Pastors, if you’re not familiar with the Preaching the Word commentary series, edited by R. Kent Hughes, you should quickly familiarize yourself. This series has been helpful to me in my preparation through the book of Acts and the gospel of Mark. I know that this latest edition to this reliable series will serve you very well, both as an encouragement to preach on Revelation and as a resource as you go about explaining this glorious book to your congregations.

When Jim stood up to begin the series on Revelation, I admit to having doubts about how applicable this apocalyptic work would be to our church full of normal people with normal needs, too many to mention. Then, near the beginning of his first sermon, he said something like this:

“We have been lulled to sleep by the ordinariness of our lives. Our senses have been dulled by the humdrum of one day after another. We need to see God as he is. We need to be convinced that Jesus is reigning as the risen King. We need to have him speak to the situation in our churches. We need to know that God is right now on his throne, in control in Heaven, worshiped by myriads upon myriads of the heavenly host. We need to see the way that God will pulverize wickedness, obliterate those who oppose him, and set up his kingdom. The book of Revelation has exactly what we need.” –Pg. 18

The book of revelation is exactly what we need. I hope that you will benefit greatly from this new volume and that through it, our confidence in and worship of our reigning and returning King will soar!

Jim Hamilton Interviewed by King’s Evangelical Divinity School

Check out this recent interview by Andy Cheung (King’s Evangelical Divinity School) of Dr. Jim Hamilton regarding his forthcoming book.

It’s Been A While…

It has been a little while since I have consistently posted at Mercy Swimming. So let me update you on what’s been rattling around in my heart and mind over the past few weeks:

Things I’m Excited About…I’m excited about a lot, so I’d better list…

New Preaching Series–It’s been three weeks since I finished a (year and a half long) series through the book of Acts, called “The Church Unstoppable.” You can listen to those sermons here. Two weeks ago we began a journey through the book of Hosea entitled, “Love Defined.” So far it’s been a joy for me to see this amazing picture of redemption, forgiveness, judgement and love. Join us on Sundays or listen here. May God prosper His word among us!

Upcoming Conferences/Events–Yes, I am excited about Together for the Gospel 2010, April 13-15th. If you have not already visited their website you should…and you ought to take the time to watch the video tours of several of the main speaker’s personal libraries. It will make you want more books, so guard yourself from temptation.

I’m also very excited about the annual gathering of Southern Baptists in Orlando this summer. Why? That brings me to my next point…

The Great Commission Resurgence–There’s something happening in the SBC. Last summer, the gathered assembly commissioned the President to appoint a committee (Great Commission Task Force) to evaluate and present ways in which the SBC can more effectively fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus. Their initial report is now available here. Pray for the SBC, and the decisions to by made and affirmed this June.

By the way, the SBC Pastor’s Conference has an amazing line up! Can’t wait to sit under these great brothers as they minister the Word to us this summer.

Danny Akin; Francis Chan; Matt Chandler;
Tony Evans; Steve Gaines; David Landrith;
CJ Mahaney; Al Mohler; Russell Moore;
David Platt; Andy Stanley; David Uth;
Ken Whitten; Ravi Zacharias;

A New, Much Anticipated Biblical Theology–Dr. Jim Hamilton’s Biblical Theology is due out this October! You can visit this blog to see a preview including the beautiful cover! Can’t wait to get my hands on this baby (probably both hands at 480 pages!).

A New President at Wheaton–I am so excited to hear the Dr. Phillip Ryken will be the next President at Wheaton College. I feel deeply for his church, however. You can see the deep emotion and sadness when a pastor has to leave his flock in his address here. All the info about this exciting news can be found here.

Pick the Next Redeemer Institutes–Finally, I’m excited about the upcoming Redeemer Institutes, that YOU CAN PICK!! That’s right, you can give three to five suggestions for our upcoming Institutes this Spring and Fall. All the information is here. If you’re not a facebook user, you can leave your suggestions on my blog and I’ll consider them for sure.

I apologize if you feel like you’ve just taken a gulp form the fire hydrant. Hopefully I’ll be a more consistent blogger in the future so I can do this in smaller chunks. Thanks for reading and swimming in mercy with me!

“Do Hard Things,” Reviewed by Caraline Cardwell

August 11, 2009

I, Caraline Cardwell, have just finished a book that has changed many lives. Do Hard Things, by Brett and Alex Harris, is an amazing book. I recommend this book to all teens who feel as if they have no purpose in their life. Or, perhaps feel as if they do, but can’t figure out how, or can’t find the courage to to fulfill their purpose in life. This book is all about stepping out of your little bubble or your comfort zone. It has many good stories of just regular teenage video game freaks who, after reading this book, do incredible things that they would never have dreamed of. It has encouraged me to do hard things. Pass this book to a friend who maybe feels like the person that I have described above, lonely, and with no purpose. Maybe they will do hard things. (I also recommend their blog, ‘Rebelutionary.org’)

One of my friends has just discovered some awful things that people do to weak children in orphanages and wants to help. I told her to become a missionary when she grows up, but she wants to do something now. She wants to help. I recommended this book to her, because there are a lot of similar stories of teens who want to do something but can’t figure out how. On the other hand, maybe you are just a lazy bum, who sits around watching TV all day. That’s your life. There is nothing else to it. To our culture, the things that aren’t really hard are, like making your bed, cleaning your room or putting away your clothes. Those things are “hard” to us. You need to become a, “rebelutionary.” You might not have heard the word, ‘rebelution’ before. Maybe it’s because Brett and Alex made it up! They combined “rebellion” &, “revolution.” Are you a rebelutionary?

I learned some interesting things. First of all, people expect more of babies than they do teens. WOW! They expect babies to sit up. They expect babies to crawl. They expect them to walk. They don’t expect hardly anything from teenagers. I made a decision. I have never read the whole bible. I love to read, with a capital, L. I have read books thicker than the Bible. Why don’t I have such a desire to read the Holy book, but am stuck on reading other stuff that is not as good? So every morning I’m planning to read three chapters, and every night I’ll read three chapters. So, I’ll be reading 6 chapters a day, 42 chapters a week, and 183 chapters a month. (If you are a young person, I would also recommend, Day by Day Bible. It is a kid’s version of the Bible and has an assignment each day for you, so you can read the bible in a year, if you follow the schedule.)

So if you haven’t read this book yet, then I highly recommend it! It is my favorite book, (and I have read a lot!) and hope that it will be yours. Farewell, and I hope that you consider this amazing book.

NOTE: If you attend Baptist Church of the Redeemer, you can buy or check this book out from our Book Nook. The foreward is by Chuck Norris!

Caraline Cardwell is currently 11 years old and has two brothers (Brayton and Caleb) and one baby sister (Adelyn).

Reading Calvin…500 years Later

Yep, Mr. Calvin is turning 500 this year. I was excited to receive his 22 volume commentary set for Christmas, which I plan to include in my regular sermon preparation.

How will you take advantage of the treasure trove of God-centered resources left behind by this pastor/theologian? Here are a few suggestions:

Scott Clark has a brief and helpful annotated reading list about Calvin and his writing here.

The Reformation 21 folks are blogging the Institutes. Check it out here.

If you want to listen to some good talks on Calvin, Martin Downes has collected a helpful list of talks by John Piper, Robert Godfrey, David Calhoun, and Michael Haykin. You can find his list here.

Enjoy!

(HT: Justin Taylor)

Worship Matters

At my church, I have the honor of walking with a few men, who are called by God into ministy and interested in being more equipped for their task in the kingdom. In our internship program this year we are reading Bob Kauflin’s new book, Worship Matters.
Below is a video clip of Bob giving a big idea of what the task of the worship leader really is on Sundays. Check it out:

You can see all of the recently posted clips by Bob here.